About

How do we honour the past, while shaping the future?

Morris+Company’s award-wining heritage-led retrofit and new build project, 15 Norton Folgate in Spitalfields, forms the focus of this exhibition – charting a decade-long tale of transformation that began with a simple, but radical, question: “What can we keep?”

Architects rarely begin with a blank canvas. They build on what exists. But to elevate architecture beyond the fundamental, they must revel in the details, understand the environmental, social, and cultural value embedded in the existing – and then breath new life into it.

‘From The Quarter To The Mortar’ takes you on a journey through some of the most pivotal and poignant chapters of the transformation, charting the smallest movements, the intricate craft, and technical complexity of retention.

Featuring hand drawn sketches, technical drawings, digital collages, handmade models, site photos and film, explore the artisan craft of the late 18th century, the rebuilding of a historic facade and patchwork of repairs – to the cutting-edge construction at play.

This exhibition tells the stories behind the final form – from city to detail, chapter by chapter, brick by brick.

It is a record of the craft of caring, and a philosophy of keeping.